Regulator relay



Nov. 17,1959 1 L. 'A. Ric-E 2,913,641

` REGULATOR RELAY Filed Jan. 18, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 L. A. RICEREGULATOR RELAY v Nov. 17, 1959 Filed Jan. 18, 1955 4 SheetsSheet 2INVENToR. L man A. Rice.

Nov. 17, 1959 1 .'A. RICE 2,913,541

REGULATOR RELAY Filed Jan. 18, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 5

JNVENToR. Lyman A. Rice H is A/omey L.. A. RICE REGULATOR RELAY Nov. 17,1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 18, 11.955

INVENTOR. Lyman A. Rice BY Attorney United States Patent O REGULATORRELAY Lyman A. Rice, Anderson, Ind., assignor to General VMotorsCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Deiaware This inventionrelates to electrical relays and is more particularly directed to relaysof the type which have springbiased armatures and areresponsive to smallvariations in current or voltage and is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Serial No. 371,133, led July 29, 1953, now Patent No.2,840,768.

This invention is particularly adapted to be vused in connection withthe current and voltage relays as are employed in a regulator whichcontrols the output of a generator or alternator in a battery chargingsystem of an automotive vehicle. These regulators generally include abase and a cover which is secured to the base and encloses a cut-outrelay, a current regulator relay and a voltage regulator relay all ofwhich are mounted on the base which in turn is secured in an accessiblelocation on some portion ot the vehicle. When the regulators of the typeherein contemplated are used, it has been found desirable to change thesettings of the relays so that the output of the generator may be variedto increase or de crease the battery charging rate to compensate fordiurnal and annual variations in conditions under which the vehicle isoperated, for instance, it is well known that a higher charging rate isgenerally desirable in winter and when the vehicle is subjected to ahigh percentage of night operation and a lower charging rate isdesirable for summer operation or ifthe vehicle is operated primarilyduring daylight.

Heretofore when an adjustment of a regulator was found necessary, it hasbeen the practice to remove the protecting cover in order that theoperator could, with suitable tools, alter the tensionv or position ofthe spring of the relay. Such adjustments are rather unsuccessful,especially when attempted by unskilled mechanics. The settings of theregulator relays are critical and are factory pre-adjusted and unlessthese adjustments are made by a skilled mechanic using proper tools andtest equipment, damage will frequently result to the generator, batteryor other components of the electrical system of the vehicle. The purposeof the present invention is to overcome these difficulties by providingla spring tension device for a regulator relay that may be pre-adjustedfor average vehicle operation during manufacture, which adjustment maybe varied by an unskilled person without difiiculty by using thenon-critical adjustment means for altering the current or voltagesetting of the regulator without removing the regulators protectivecover.

An object of lche present invention is to provide manually operablemeans for closely adjusting the regulator in an easy manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a Vernieradjustment means for the voltage regulator which extends through anenclosure for the regulator relays and moves a member within theenclosure for controlling the spring tension of the relay.

Further objects and advantages ofthe present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein a pre- ICC rferred embodiment of the present inventionvis clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a sectional view of the cover and'side elevational view ofthe improved tension device used on Va voltage regulator. 4

Figure 2 is an end view taken on line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tension device as used on avoltage regulator.

Figure 4 is a view of a regulator with avportion of the cover and basebroken away exposing a modified form of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a view taken along lines 5-5 in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the tension device accordingto the present invention and shown in Figure 4.

Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the tension device shown inFigure 6.

Referring to the drawings and to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3,a voltage regulator or circuit breaker Vis mounted on a base 21 fromVwhich extend side anges 22 and 23 and end ilanges 24. The end anges 24terminate in -notched ears 25 adapted to receive suitable securingdevices, not shown, for attaching the base to any suitable support. Theside liange 22 has suitable spaced `openings to receive terminal plates26, one for each instrument mounted on the base. One 4of the terminalplates 26', for the voltage regulator, is insulatingly supported fromthe 4base 21 by insulating strips 27.

The base 21 carriesa magnet assembly 28 that includes a core 30 having alpole piece 31 and a bracket 32 snpporting a connector 33 to which on'eend of a` winding 34 is attached at 35. 'The connector 33 supports lafixed Contact 36 which cooperates with a movable contact 37 carried byan armature plate 38; The armature plate 38 has an arm 39 extending atright angles from the plane of the plate. The armature plate supports aspring hinge 40 and a plate 41. The armature plate 38, the hinge 40, andthe plate 41 are secured together by rivets 42. The spring hinge 40extends beyond the plate 41 and has two spaced tongues 4.3A that aresecured by rivets or by welding to spaced ears or" a' magnet frame 44disposed adjacent to the magnet assembly. The magnet frame 44 includesan Iarm 45 secured to the base 21 by an extension of the core 3i) whichpasses through an opening in the base and riveted against the undersideof the base 21. The plate 41 is provided with a hook or spring seat 46supporting one end of a spring 47, the other end of the spring isattached to a spring seat 48 of a movable bracket 50, which movesparallel with `an arm 51 of the magnet frame 44. When assembled asexplained, the spring 47 urges the armature in a clockwise direction tomaintain the contacts 36 and 37 in closed position with a predeterminedforce, The spring force by which the contacts 36, 37 are kept inengagement can be varied by the adjustment of spring 47 and thusdetermine the magnetic force that must be de veloped in the magnetassembly for separating the contacts 36, 37.

Referring to Figure 3 the bracket 50 is stamped from sheet metal andbent to form a U-shaped end to include a base 52 and spaced ears 53 and54 having aligned apertures 55 and 56 respectively. The aperture 55 islarger thanvthe aperture 56. The ear 53 has an extension 57 which hasthe hook 48 rigidly attached thereto. The other end of the extension 57is notched at 58 to provide tines or prongs 61 which straddle an arm 62of a bracket 65 of sheet metal. v

The bracket has a base portion 66 provided at one end with outwardlyextending ears 67 having tapped openings. One of the ears is bentslightly toward the other ear so that the tapped openings are slightlyout of axial A 66 and spaced from arm 51-of the magnet frame to permitthe tines or prongs 61 to straddle the arm 62 and guide the movablebracket in its up and down movements as viewed in Figure 3. The base 66of the bracket 65 is secured to the arm 51 in any suitable manner. Inthe present instance the base is spot welded to the arm 51 as indicatedat 70.

In the present instance the bracket 1s located above the movable bracket50, but it is to be understood the 'bracket 65 could be located belowthe bracket with the arm extending upwardly. The tapped opening in theears 67 receive a screwdriver slotted screw 71 in binding relation. Thelower end of the screw 71 has a plain cylindrical portion 72 and areduced extension 73 to profvide a shoulder 74.

The tension of the spring may be varied, to modify the -movement of thearmature 38 by the adjusting screw 71.

This is accomplished by having the shoulder 74 rest on the ear 54 so asto move bracket 50 downwardly as the screw is threaded downward, asviewed in Figure 3. Since the threads of the screw 71 have a bindingeffect with the threads of the tapped openings in ears 67 the screw 71is held firmly in any adjusted position.

The armature carries the contact 37 for engagement with the contact 36.A tongue 75 is bent upwardly from the bracket 32 to provide a stop forthe armature. As is obvious the tongue stop 75 limits the movement ofthe armature toward the pole piece 31 of the core 30.

In Figuresv 4 to 7 of the drawings another form of the present inventionis shown. In this embodiment, the various portions of the regulatorrelay may be constructed and arranged as described in the precedingembodiment or the relay may be similar to the relay disclosed in patentapplication Serial No. 425,085, now PatentV No. 2,842,634, as tiled byLyman A. Rice on April 23, 1954, and assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention. In the Rice application a disclosure of a method andapparatus for adjusting the air gap between contact points 102 and 104is set forth. In other respects like numerals refer to like parts asdescribed in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3, to provide for anadjustment means 106 which will vary the tension of spring 147 as willbe hereinafter fully described.

Referring now to Figure 6 of the drawings particularly, the adjustmentmeans 106 includes a single U-shaped bracket 108 that is preferablyformed of stamped metal to have a base 110 and a pair of substantiallyparallel arms 112 and 114. The bracket 108 is adapted to be secured byits base 110 to anV arm 151 of the magnet assembly so Ythat the springseat 148 along edge 116 of the upper arm 112, is properly disposedrelative to the hook or spring seat 146 on plate 141.

The lower arm 114, which is disposed on lbase 118 so that it issubstantially parallel and spaced from the regulator base 121, hasthreaded openings 118 and 120 located adjacent the opposite ends. Theupper arm 112 has an opening 122, preferably formed without threads, inalignment with opening 118 in the lower arm 114. The uppper arm 112 alsohas a slot 124 therein which slot extends from one end 119 of the arm112 along base 110 for a substantial distance beyond spring seat 148 sothat the spring seat 148 will be vertically moved a substantial distanceas the end 119 is moved by the bolt 126 which extends through opening122 and threadedly is engaged in opening 118. The movement of end 119 isoccasioned when bolt 126 is threaded into or from opening 11S so thatthe portion of arm 112 between the base 128 of slot 124 and end 119 isstressed and bent along the longitudinal axis of arm 112. This verticalmovement of seat 148 will cause the tension on spring 147, which ishooked between spring seats 146 and 148, to be 2,918,641,V AH.

4 varied to modify the movement of the armature 138 and thus provide afactory setting which is used during manufacture or service adjustmentsfor setting the regulator so that the points 102 and 104 will be closeduntil the core of the magnet is suiciently excited by current passingtherethrough.

Another feature of the present invention includes an external adjustmentfor the tension spring 147. This is accomplished b-y providing a screw171 with the long threaded extension 173 which Will extend through theopenings 180 in the base 121 and opening 120 in the arm 114 so as to bein contact with arm 112. A lever 181 can be attached to the headedportion of screw 71 in any suitable manner and can be actuated or movedby hand or by a tool from one end to the other end of a slotted opening182 in the side ange 123 of base 121. When the lever 181 is so moved,the threaded extension 173 will be rotated in the threaded opening 120and cause the end 174 of the threaded end 173 to move vertically a smalldistance and bore against the portion of arm 112 which is partly definedby the base 128 of slot 124 and end 175 of bracket 112. As clearly seenin Figure 6, the end 174 of screw 171 engages the arm 112 at apoint thatis spaced from base 110. Thus as the end 174 is vertically moved, astress is applied on the material of arm 112. The arm is stressed alongan axis transverse to base 110 and the material of the arm portionbetween edge 116 and the base 110 is bent so the hook 148 will be causedto move vertically to minutely change the tension on spring 147.

An important feature of the present invention is to provide the screws71 and 171 with the long extensions 73 and 173 which will extend throughopenings 80 and of the bases 121 and 21. Levers 81 and 181 can beattached to the extensions 73 and 173 in any suitable manner and can beactuated by a hand or tool from one end to the other in openings`orvslots 82 and 182 in the side anges 23 and 123. The circuitcontroller is normally set at the factory to give satisfactory resultsfor normal driving conditions. The normal position of the lever isgenerally positioned in the mid-position of the slot. During operationof the voltage regulator, the Voltage regulator limits the voltage in acharging circuit to a safe value thereby controlling the rate of thegenerator in accordance with the requirements of the battery and thecurrent consuming electrical units which are in circuit with thebattery. When the battery is partly discharged, the generator output isnear maximum, but as the battery comes up to charge and the currentrequirements of the other electrical units are small, the voltageregulator operates to limit the voltage thereby reducing the generatoroutput. This protects the battery from overcharge and the electricalsystem from high voltage.

The voltage regulator as shown in Figures l to 3 of the drawingsconsists of two windings 34 and 75. The voltage or shunt Winding 75consists of a plurality of turns of tine wire connected so thatgenerator voltage is impressed uponit at all times. The series winding34 is of fewer turns of heavy wire and carries the generator heldcurrent directly to ground when the contacts 36 and 37 are closed.l Y

It is frequently desirable to change the amount of current which issupplied to the storage battery depending upon the amount of day andnight driving of an automobile. When it is desired to increase thevoltage, say one-half volt, the external adjustment lever is ttu'ned ina clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 3 and'6 until the leverengages the end of the proper slot 82 or 182. This operation increasesthe tension in springV 47 or 147 and thus increases the generator outputvoltage. If it is desired to decrease the voltage the lever is turned ina counterclockwise direction until the lever engages the opposite end ofthe proper slot 82 or 182. This operation decreases the tension of theVarmature spring 47 or 147 and thus lowers the generator output voltage.The

f turning of the screw can be accomplished without removing the cover.lffurther adjustment is necessary the cover is removed and lever must beremoved from the extension.

The invention possesses certain advantages thatit eliminates removingthe cover when itis desired to .increase or decrease one-half Volt; itfurther eliminates the most common method of adjusting voltageregulator, namely, the method of bending a metal part 4by a separatetool to alter the tension of the springs-47 and A147. The act of bendinga metal part with a separate tool to change the tension of the spring 47or 147 is rather diicult because it may be necessary to repeat thebending operation many times before the desired tension in the spring isobtained. In the present invention very tine Vernier adjustments may bemade without difliculty to the tension of the springs to adjust thespring tension on the armature so the regulating action of the regulatorcan be very accurately adjusted to compensate for various operatingconditions to which the vehicle may be subjected.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosedconstitute preferred forms, it is to be understood-that other formsmight be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

l. An electromagnetic relay that is mounted on a base and enclosed by acover when said cover is positioned on said base wherein said base hasan aperture therein, comprising; a frame supporting a magnetic core anda coil winding for energizing said core, an armature hingedly carried bysaid frame adapted to be moved by the magnetic attraction of said core,a spring under tension having one end attached to said armature foropposing the movement of said armature by said core and means carried bysaid frame for varying the tension of said spring, said means including;a longitudinally extending U-shaped channel member attached by itsmid-portion to the frame and having a bendable arm and a rigid armtransversely extending from said mid-portion, an anchoring means on saidbendable arm for anchoring the other end of said spring, a meansoperatively associated with each of said arms for stressing a portion ofsaid bendable arm along its longitudinal axis for moving said anchormeans relative to said rigid arm, and means extending through theaperture in the base and operatively associated with said arms forstressing a second portion of said bendable arm along its transverseaxis for moving said anchor means relative to said rigid arm.

2. An electromagnetic relay that is mounted on a base and enclosed by acover when said cover is positioned on said base wherein said base hasan aperture therein, comprising; a frame supporting a magnetic core anda coil winding for energizing said core, an armature hingedly carried bysaid frame adapted to be moved by the magnetic attraction of said core,a spring under tension having one end attached -to said armature foropposing the movement of said armature by said core and means carried bysaid frame for varying the tension of said spring, said means including;a longitudinally extending U-shaped channel member attached by itsmid-portion to the frame and having a bendable arm and a rigid armtransversely extending from said mid-portion, an anchoring means on saidbendable arm for anchoring the other end of said spring, meansoperatively associated with each of said arms for stressing a portion ofsaid bendable arm along its longitudinal axis for moving said anchormeans relative to said rigid arm, and means extending through saidaperture and operatively associated with said arms for stressing asecond portion of said bendable arm along its transverse vaxis formoving said anchor means relative to said rigid arm, whereby the tensionon said spring may be varied from the exterior of said regulator.

3. In a circuit controller, the combination comprising; a frame mountedon a base having an aperture therein and supporting a core surrounded bya winding, an armature pivotally supported by the frame, a spring undertension for urging the armature away from said core, and means having -aportion thereof extending through the aperture in said base for varyingthe tension of said spring, said means including; a longitudinallyextending U-shaped channel member vattached by `its mid-portion to theframefand having a bendable arm and a rigid arm, transversely extendingfrom said mid-portion, an anchoring means on said bendable arm foryanchoring the other end of said spring, means operatively associatedwith each of said'farms for stressingV a portion of said bendable armalong Iits longitudinal axis for moving-said anchor means relative tosaid rigid arm over a wide range of movement, and means operativelyassociated with said arms for stressing a second portion of saidbendable arm along an axis transverse to said midportion for moving saidanchor means relative to said rigid arm over a small range of movement.

4. In a circuit controller, the combination comprising; a frame mountedon a base having an aperture therein and supporting a core surrounded bya winding, an armature pivotally supported by the frame, a spring undertension for urging the armature away from said core, a U-shaped channelmember having its mid-portion secured to said frame and providing a pairof spaced arms extending from said mid-portion wherein one of said armshas a spring anchor and is slotted lengthwise so as to be bendablerelative to the mid-portion and another arm rigidly formed with saidmid-portion, a rst adjustment means threadedly engaging one of said armsand adapted to bear against portions of the other arm for bending saidslotted arm along an axis in a plane parallel to said mid-portion formoving said spring anchor and roughly adjusting the tension of saidspring, and a second adjustment means threadedly engaging the rigid armand bearing against said bendable arm, said second adjustment meansextending through the aperture in said base and adapted to bend saidbendable arm along an axis in a plane perpendicular to said mid-portionfor moving said spring anchor and eiecting a Vernier adjustment of thetension of said spring.

5. In a circuit controller, the combination comprising; a frame mountedon a base having an aperture therein and supporting a core surrounded bya winding, an armature pivotally supported by the frame, a spring undertension for urging the armature away from said core, a U-shaped channelhaving its mid-portion secured to said frame and providing a pair ofspaced arms extending from said mid-portion wherein one of said arms hasa spring anchor intermediate its ends and is slotted lengthwise from oneend so as to provide a bendable portion on the other end whereby saidarm is bendable relative to the mid-portion and to the other arm whichis rigidly formed with said mid-portion, a irst adjustment meansthreadedly engaging one of said arms and adapted to bear againstportions of the other arm adjacent said one end for bending said slottedarm along an axis in a plane parallel to said mid-portion for movingsaid spring anchor and adjusting the tension of said spring, and asecond adjustment means threadedly engaging the rigid arm and bearingagainst the other end of said bendable arm, said second adjustment meansextending through the aperture in said base and adapted to stress thebendable portion of said bendable arm along an axis in a planeperpendicular to said mid-portion for moving said spring anchor andeffecting a Vernier adjustment of the tension of said spring.

6. In combination with a circuit controller having a movable armatureand a spring load thereupon for varying the action of the armature, andadjusting means for said spring load, comprising in combination; amagnet frame mounted on an apertured base; a sheet metal bracketcomprising a second base portion extending transversely of the frame andhaving a channel portion at one end providing a pair of spaced earsextending at angles to the second base portion and substantially inparallelism, said spaced ears having threaded Vapertures 'ReferencesCited in the le of this patent therein and slightly misaligned toprovide a binding effect UNITED STATES PATENTS upon a screw threaded 1nboth of said apertures, sald bracket having an offset tongue at theother end thereof; 2,273,545 Valkenburg Feb' 17 1942 a spring supportingarm adapted to engage one end of 5 2765849 Lamer-*nf Mar- 17 1942 thespring and having a notched end guided by the oiset 2,296,684 Neun??Sept- 22 1942 tongue; and an adjusting screw threaded in said ears and2641665 'Deakm June 9 1953 adapted to be journalled in the other end ofthe spring v supporting arm and extending through the aperture inFQREIGN PATENTS said rst base rotatable for moving the arm toward and 1061,541 SWltZerland June 21, 1912 from the bracket along the length ofsaid oset tongue. 299,360 Great Britain Dec. 9, 1929

